The F-35B Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) test aircraft BF-2 made its first deck landing aboard the USS Wasp earlier this week, the first at-sea vertical landing for the Marine Corps’ STOVL (Short Take-Off vertical Landing) version of the F-35 Lightning II, manufactured by Lockheed Martin.
Marine Corps test pilot Lieutenant Colonel Fred Schenk made the historic flight 48 years to the month since British test pilot Bill Bedford landed the Hawker P1127 prototype (later to evolve into the Harrier) aboard HMS Ark Royal.
The first vertical landing is part of the initial ship trials for the F-35B which started
on October 3 and are expected to last two weeks.
The tests are scheduled to collect data on the aircraft’s ability to perform short take-offs and vertical landings on a ship at sea, as well as determine how the aircraft integrates with the ship’s landing systems, and deck and hangar operations.
This test period, the first of three scheduled at-sea test periods over the course of the development program, will also collect environmental data on the deck through added instrumentation to measure the F-35B’s impact to flight deck operations.
In addition to being the first ship to successfully land the F-35B, USS Wasp was also the first ship to host the V-22 Osprey during shipboard trials in October 2007.